ACW

Tuesday, 8 November 2016

Abounding blessings by Annie Try

I will sing to the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

May my meditation be pleasing to him,

as I rejoice in the Lord. Psalm 107:33-34

It's been a bit tough for me to stay praising over the past few days. Although I have managed a little amidst the snoozing, shivers and earache. But, today I feel totally blessed. I am still full of cold and coughing away as well as sneezing (I think it's a confused cold that doesn't know if it's coming or going) BUT I had my first good night's sleep for ages and was well enough to take Ken a cup of tea in bed. That's the least I could do after he has looked after me so well for the best part of a week.The blessings went on - they always do, of course, but sometimes we can't see them. This morning I particularly noticed the sun across the garden and the myriad of birds on our birdfeeder, including a woodpecker. I praise God I am hearing more today. Ken wears a hearing aid but yesterday he turned the television down; it was too loud for him. Our conversations became comical as his voice became quieter. It wasn't helped by the fact that I seem to have shared the cold and his voice is a little croaky.Then I read Mandy's post from yesterday. That really blessed me. I am God's poem! It's mind-blowing.My next blessing is this: I had a knock on the front door - this may seem quite normal to most people, but everyone knocks on our kitchen door, it being the most obvious as you approach our house. The dog was confused, running between the two as if telling the delivery man that no-one would open up there. But I did, and I was passed a parcel addressed to me in the United Kingdom. I wondered if I had ordered anything over the Internet when in the feverish height of my cold.However, on opening the mystery box, I discovered four identical books. No note with it, just four paperbacks which had become a bit battered as they jostled around in a large cardboard box. The books seemed to be written in Korean. Wow! A new translation, 18 years after original publication! I praise God that our book - on how to use creativity to work with children overcoming psychological difficulties - is useful for therapists as far away (culturally and geographically) as Korea.

I will sing praise to my God.Annie Try is the pen-name (for fiction) of Angela Hobday, Chair of ACW. Her next novel 'Trying to Fly' will be published by Instant Apostle ready for release in February 2017.

Cautionary footnote:
The Korean translation is not a monetary blessing - my co-author and I, in our naivety, signed away our overseas rights for a pittance. So be careful when you read your contract - you may not think your humble first book will go anywhere except to a few friends - but, just in case, don't sign away your translation and film rights!